You probably already know the basics of Facebook marketing:
- Engage users with relevant content.
- Post regularly and at optimal times.
- Respond to comments to further engage users.
- Target the right users and build out your audience with lookalikes.
- And take advantage of Facebook advertising and analytics to grow and optimize further.
But, as with most things in the digital marketing world, Facebook is always changing…
Nothing weird about that…moving on.
So it’s not enough to stick with the basics and call it a day. As Bernie Wong, founder of social media agency Social Stand Limited, pointed out, with so much content published on Facebook now, businesses need a fresh approach to get noticed.
Which is where we come in. We asked the experts to share their best tips for building a successful Facebook marketing strategy in 2022, and they delivered! Let’s dive in.
Tips to build your 2023 Facebook marketing strategy
Use these Facebook marketing tips and features to build a Facebook marketing strategy that works for your business in 2022.
1. Use Facebook Open Graph
Facebook Open Graph is a series of meta tags that help the platform understand how to display your content. This helps prevent any quality issues when sharing links, which, in turn, helps encourage users to share your content.
You can use the Facebook sharing debugger to see what it will look like when someone shares your content on Facebook and whether or not you have Facebook Open Graph on your website.
But Matt Weidle, business development manager at reviews site Buyer’s Guide, noted Facebook Open Graph also allows brands to build third-party apps that connect to users’ Facebook accounts. Then the app notifies them when the user takes a specific action, like listening or reading.
He pointed to streaming platform Spotify as “an excellent illustration of how Facebook Open Graph can be used as a marketing tool on Facebook.”
In addition, Shiv Gupta, marketing director of digital marketing agency Incrementors Web Solutions, said Open Graph actions are “distinctive enough to stand out in a user’s congested News Feed.”
2. Make profile modifications
To help make it easier for users to find content, Ryan Jeffords, founder of car-buying site Buy Here Pay Here, recommends improving the user experience on your profile page by streamlining tabs, rearranging hierarchy, and including or deleting key tabs.
“Ensure that your review tab is set on if you are a service-based firm,” he said. “Keep in mind that any tabs that link to your other social pages should be grouped.”
In addition, Dror Zaifman, director of digital marketing at loan site iCash, said the sidebar tabs are customizable and helpful in driving traffic to your website by adding a call to action.
Related: Use these tips to promote your Facebook business page for free.
3. Try Facebook Live
As live streaming starts to gain popularity among retailers and e-commerce platforms, it’s wise for businesses to experiment with live content on platforms like Facebook. After all, it’s free.
Jeff Moriarty, marketing manager of jewelry site Moriarty’s Gem Art, noted this is especially important during the holidays.
“We have found the engagement is very high and we see a boost in sales through our website and our retail location during these live videos and the days [following] it,” he added.
Brandon Hopkins, founder of reputation management site DiamondLinks, agreed, pointing to Q&As as a possible content format by collaborating with related brands. By hosting a series of live events, you can increase traction on your Facebook page and potentially reach new audiences.
Related: Get more tips for your Facebook video marketing strategy.
4. Pin your posts
The concept of pinning a post to the top of your profile is nothing new, but Tristan Harris, demand generation marketing manager at digital marketing agency Thrive Agency, considers this marketing tactic a “gem.”
That’s in part because it allows brands to highlight a post with high engagement for first-time visitors.
“When users visit your page, the first post they see should be compelling enough for them to want to get to know your brand more,” he said. “A pinned post is a customer’s first impression of you, so make sure the graphic is appealing, the content is on point and the topic is interesting.”
Eric Thomas, CEO of solar panel site Simple Solar Living, agreed brands shouldn’t underestimate the power of a pinned post.
“Use the pinned post to get across necessary basic information that you want to highlight—your company’s values, calls to action, sustainability practices, or current locations,” he added. “No matter what, it’s the first post people will see when they visit your page—it has power.”
5. Get into Facebook Reels
Facebook began testing short-form video feature Reels in August 2021 to better compete with social media darling TikTok.
Jennifer Leavens, digital producer and social media strategist at digital marketing agency Coalition Technologies, pointed to an opportunity for brands to capitalize with Reels as Facebook wants the feature to succeed and is therefore “pushing them to users.”
By paying attention to new features like this and becoming early adopters, brands can benefit further, she added.
Related: Get our tips for using Facebook Reels here.
6. Test and learn what works for your audience
It’s also worth noting any Facebook marketing strategy is always a work in progress. By testing, learning, and optimizing, you can continue to improve.
Zaifman recommends A/B split tests to investigate how well your strategy is working.
“These tests can indicate what time of the day your viewers are the highest or which content attracts the most readers,” he said. “Through the use of heatmaps and clickmaps, an A/B test can effectively indicate which areas of your Facebook page need improvements.”
Facebook now offers a way to A/B test your organic posts directly through Creator Studio to help with this:
Spencer Smith, VP of marketing at digital marketing firm Evocalize, agreed this “test, measure, iterate approach” helps marketers improve. He pointed to one large client, which saw CPC decline 95% after testing lookalike percentages and sources and initially switching optimization to a higher-level event.
“Patience and the willingness to learn is key for success,” he added.
Related: Having trouble with Facebook? Find out how to contact Facebook support.
7. Conduct a sentiment analysis
Social media sentiment analysis helps brands analyze how consumers really feel about them online.
Scott Keever, founder of SEO firm Scott Keever SEO, advocates for an approach beyond “just looking at the number of mentions or comments on your company’s Facebook page.”
By using a sentiment analysis tool, brands can better tailor their marketing strategies and tweak their messaging and/or product development to better meet consumer needs.
An example of a social media sentiment overview from Sendible.
“Marketers do best when they understand their audience,” he said. “Therefore, it is essential marketers understand how the target audience feels about the brand, your campaigns, social posts and not how they just mention you.”
8. Optimize your Facebook profile SEO
It’s perhaps another one that is so simple it’s easy to overlook but Leavens recommended applying SEO best practices to your Facebook page, too. That includes optimizing your page name and all sections within Page Info, like your Facebook bio.
“There is a short description that allows 255 characters and also an Additional Information section that has room for 50,000 characters,” she said. “Plenty of room to use keywords without keyword stuffing.”
Related: Get tips for writing your Facebook business description.
9. Focus on connecting, not selling
One of the ultimate goals of advertising is to sell products. And while that should certainly be part of your Facebook marketing strategy, too, you don’t want to give Facebook users a hard sell.
Scott Ferguson, founder of golf products site I Over Golf, recommended telling stories rather than overtly selling products. Ultimately, the tell will help you sell anyway.
“People are so used to adverts that they automatically ignore them,” added Isla Sibanda, owner of VPN services site Privacyaustralia.
Or, Leavens put it, Facebook users won’t spend with you if they don’t first love your brand.
“Social media strategy must always put emotional connection first, being a resource second and selling third,” she said. “In reality, the emotional connection does the selling for you. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tag your product(s) or include a CTA in a post meant to connect with your audience, but it means the meaningful message comes first.”
Facebook marketing strategies to improve your advertising
You can’t have a robust Facebook marketing strategy without Facebook advertising! Use these ideas to improve your advertising on Facebook.
10. Take advantage of Facebook’s Ad Library
Facebook’s Ad Library is an archive of ads that have run on the platform for the last seven years. Part of the intent is to provide additional transparency into political ads, but Wong noted it’s also a good reference point for marketers to research successful creative, including how businesses use customer pain points to guide ad spend and the brand messages that gain the most traction.
“It is also a goldmine to find how your competitors tell their brand stories,” he added.
11. Don’t ignore Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
Messaging platforms Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired in 2014, can also help brands engage users. This is especially important as the amount of time users spend on the social networking platform itself each day declines, Wong noted.
“Through Messenger and WhatsApp, you allow more people to discover your content by sending the latest updates, promotional offers, [and] relevant blog posts,” he said. “Besides, Messenger chatbots are also the cheapest way to examine and personalize customer interaction 24/7.”
Lauren Cook-McKay, director of marketing and content at divorce site Divorce Answers, agreed Messenger, in particular, is a useful marketing channel for customer service queries—and she noted Facebook now offers Messenger-specific ads.
12. Try Sponsored Stories
Facebook and Messenger Stories have been around for several years now, along with the ability to advertise within, but they remain an effective means to reach the hundreds of millions of users who interact with the content formats daily.
Per Tanner Arnold, president and CEO of machinery commerce platform Revelation Machinery, these Sponsored Stories share users’ interactions with their friends, such as those who have liked a brand’s page or claimed an offer. He pointed to Facebook data, which shows Sponsored Stories have a 46% higher click-through rate and a 20% lower cost per click than other Facebook ads.
13. Look at your Facebook Relevance Score
Relevance Score is how Facebook measures the quality and engagement of your ads. It’s important because it is used to determine your CPC, as well as the frequency of ad placements on the platform.
Because Facebook advertising isn’t getting any cheaper, Tyler Martin, founder of business coaching firm ThinkTyler, recommends keeping tabs on your Relevance Score(s) to make sure your ads are performing—and, if not, to make the necessary tweaks to maximize ROI.
Related: Need to remove your Facebook page for some reason? Find out how to delete a Facebook business page.
14. Target smaller audience sizes
Another way to boost ROI is to target what Michael Alexis, CEO of events firm TeamBuilding, describes as “one niche deeper.”
This is despite warnings from Facebook that audience size is becoming too small as you adjust settings like age, gender, income, interests, and location.
“I’ve found time and again that keeping the audience small is the #1 way to boost relevancy and conversions,” he said. “You may still want to reach the larger audiences–and you can. Instead of making one campaign that reaches 100,000 people, try making 10 campaigns that each reach 10,000 people. You will see returns on the increased effort.”
15. Edit your ad placements
When you’re creating an ad on Facebook, the platform will automatically choose the “recommended” setting for placements, but Nate Tsang, CEO of stock market analysis site WallStreetZen, warned, “This is not the right way to do things.”
Instead, take the time to edit your ad placements for maximum effect.
“Facebook wants you to use the recommended setting because they have certain apps and networks where they want to feature your ads,” he said. “But to get the best results, you have to tweak and exclude categories.”
WallStreetZen has had success focusing placements on desktops, for example.
“You can also fine-tune the categories you appear in to increase your click-through rate and improve your relevancy,” Tsang added. “It’s worth taking the time to tweak things instead of just going with what the algorithm decides.”
16. Make optimizations higher in the funnel
If you’re not seeing the results you want, Smith suggested you try to optimize higher in the sales funnel. That’s because when you optimize for a conversion event like a purchase, Facebook wants to see ample events to optimize your campaign.
“If the system doesn’t see enough conversion events, it throttles back your spend to save your budget,” he added.
If, however, you change the optimization event to something higher in the funnel, like add to cart or page view, Facebook will see more events.
“As you get more higher-level events, you should also get more lower-level events and once you’ve reached critical mass, you should adjust your optimization event to a lower-funnel conversion,” Smith said. “I like to say, ‘Set your conversions as low in the funnel as you can, but as high as you need to have critical mass.’”
Create your Facebook marketing strategy for success in 2022
A robust Facebook marketing strategy is a must for any business looking to get new customers, engage their current audience, and stay ahead of the curve.
Use these tips to build your 2022 Facebook marketing strategy:
- Use Facebook Open Graph
- Make profile modifications
- Try Facebook Live
- Pin your posts
- Get into Facebook Reels
- Test and learn what works for your audience
- Conduct a sentiment analysis
- Optimize your Facebook profile SEO
- Focus on connecting, not selling
- Take advantage of Facebook’s Ad Library
- Don’t ignore Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
- Try Sponsored Stories
- Look at your Facebook Relevance Score
- Target smaller audience sizes
- Edit your ad placements
- Make optimizations higher in the funnel
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